LAS VEGAS (AP) - A prominent political fundraiser on trial in a corruption case in Chicago is wanted in Nevada on allegations that he rang up more than $803,000 in Las Vegas Strip casino debts, according to court documents.
Antoin ‘‘Tony'' Rezko, who was awaiting a jury decision Thursday at his fraud trial in Chicago, is sought on a felony arrest warrant issued May 20 alleging he failed to repay 10 casino loans totaling $472,275 and dating to mid-2006 at Caesars Palace and Bally's, Clark County court spokesman Michael Sommermeyer said.
Rezko, of Wilmette, Ill., also is named in a separate civil lawsuit alleging he owes $331,000 plus interest to the Bellagio for loans he received in February 2006.
Rezko is a real estate developer and fast-food entrepreneur who has raised thousands of dollars for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
He is charged in Chicago with using his clout with Blagojevich's administration to get a $1.5 million bribe from a contractor and to pressure kickbacks out of money management firms wanting to do business with a $40 billion state pension fund.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Joseph J. Duffy, a lawyer for the 52-year-old Rezko, declined comment on the Las Vegas cases.
http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles/2008/05/31/news/nation/nation5.txt
Obama says “that’s not the Tony Rezko I knew.”
Well actually, he’s getting off easy. 50 years ago, failing to repay 10 casino loans would have had him not under arrest, but under several feet of desert sand;)